Pedro the Lion - Achilles Heel
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Artist: Pedro the LionEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2004-05-25
Music Label: Jade Tree
Soundtracks:
- Bands With Managers
- Foregone Conclusions
- The Fleecing
- Discretion
- Arizona
- Keep Swinging
- Transcontinental
- I Do
- A Simple Plan
- Start Without Me
- The Poison
Music reviews of Achilles Heel
Music Review: Oddly Entrancing
Rating: 4 Stars
Pedro the Lion really has no excuse for not sucking. David Bazan has a terrible monotonous drone in place of a voice. The instrumentation and production on this album give new meaning to the term "lo-fi." And who wants to listen to songs about amputees and alcoholics anyway?
Certainly, Pedro the Lion's appeal is very limited. But those willing to gamble on his fare will find some quiet gems buried under...well, not really anything. This is essentially a bare bones album. Indie rock in the purest sense, there's nothing here but some quietly strumming guitars, light drums, barely noticeable bass and the occasional synth. And a handful of darn good stories. In each song, David Bazan takes on a new persona, confusing his experience with that of the characters he embodies, hiding his own thoughts under others' voices.
There is something strangely compelling about the song set of "Achilles Heel." When the opening chords of "Bands With Managers" begin to slog through the stereo, there is every reason to hit the stop button. The tempo is obviously far too slow. The melody is headed nowhere. And somehow, the song's total lack of pretention hits, and we realize that this scene is playing out exactly as intended. We can't help but listen to David go on and on about his hopelessness and woes because he's just so stinking honest.
The opener makes the electric opening of "Foregone Conclusions" seem that much sweeter. A song executed with such efficiency that we never really knew what hit us, it blends warm open-string chords with brilliant cynicism, as David takes on the character of the reluctant recipient of a conversion attempt. In a brilliant moment of irony, he sings, "You were too busy steering the conversation toward the Lord/To hear the voice of the Spirit begging you to shut the f--- up." The next tune finds a character (perhaps the previous song's evangelist) offering weak but honest defense of his faith.
Other highlights include the murder mystery "Discretion," which cleverly blends rhythmic feels, straightforward pop/rock number "Start Without Me," and "I Do," a unique meditation on fatherhood (postpartem depression on the part of the father). However, the true gem of the album is the peppy "Transcontinental," which tells the tragedy story of an amputee, set to sparse and eerie synths, while the drums mock the click-clack of a train. Perhaps the album's most intriguing track lyrically, this is a fantastic, pure road song. Closer "The Poison" frames the album with "Bands With Managers" and features the same, too slow, little melody feel, but when Bazan cries "My old man always swore that hell would have no flames/Just a front row seat to watch your true love pack her things and drive away," all is forgiven.
The wonders of "Achilles Heel" are true enigmas. When at their worst, the band (if it can really be called that) is an unbearable mess and at their best, a marvel of economical atmospheric magic. Thankfully, the album contains mostly the latter. And we can take the bad parts, knowing that they're really not trying to please anybody but themselves.
Description of Achilles Heel
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